Mathematical Modeling of Pulsating Soft Corals

Coral ecosystems are of interest for environmental
conservation due to the notable diversity exhibited by them. While coral reefs
are composed of hard corals with calcium carbonate skeletons, soft coral of the Xeniidae family have an active pulsating
motion, which is unusual among sessile organisms. While this behavior expends
energy, it has been shown to enhance photosynthesis rates in these
organisms.

Preliminary data sets indicate that somehow the pulsating
motion is helping the coral: pulsating increases turbulence which may increase
mixing. Their data also shows that it's beneficial for photosynthesis. However,
the corals don't pulse only in the presence of light; they pulse 24 hours a day,
so open questions remain.

Her group is also studying the pulsing dynamics’ effect on
particle capture, nutrient exchange, and waste removal. Khatri presented direct numerical simulations of the coral pulsations, and
the consequent fluid flow by solving the Navier-Stokes equations coupled with
the immersed boundary method.
She described kinematics methods
used by her group to simulate the movement, six points along a tentacle are
tracked using image processing and tracking methods.

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